Be Prepared! (basic content of Tuesday@theB message 1/8/13)

In the book of Luke, before meeting the Holy family of Mary and Joseph, before the promise and birth of the Christ child, there is another story, an important story about preparation. The writer of Luke and Acts begins his book with the story of a childless priest named Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth. We meet Zach late in his life and are told that he had just been selected by lot, or the drawing of straws if you will, to serve as the priest to go into the holiest part of the temple to burn incense on the altar. This was a job that few priests ever attained. The innermost part of the temple was so sacred that great preparation and purification had to occur before the priest went behind the curtains to light the incense. Zachariah had to bathe in a ceremonial bath. He had to be dressed in ceremonial clothing. He had to be purified through certain rituals. And finally a rope was tied around his ankle in case he died while inside this holiest of places. In ancient Jewish culture this was the Holiest place on Earth. This was literally Holy Ground. In the Holy of Holys you were the closest to God as was possible, you were encroaching into the living room of Yahweh, the God of the universe.

When Zechariah went into the Holy of Holys the assembled worshipers waited cautiously outside praying. I can only imagine how nervous he was - filled with a mix of pride for being selected, the weight of carrying the burden for the whole nation, and fear of possibly screwing it up. he was actually going to go behind the curtain, the wall of separation between the people and God. We don't have anything quite like this in our churches or worship centers. Perhaps in most Protestant churches the Baptistry might be considered a holy place, but I don't know of anyone who has had to be rescued from one, nor have I ever known anyone to tie a rope around their waist or wear a life jacket when going into the water! I have heard from one retired music leader who actually bathed in a baptistry of the church where he was staying and conducting a revival. He was told to do so by his hosts for the week. The church did not have showers, but only bathrooms typical for such public meeting places. One morning some women from the church came to begin preparing for that evening only to find his head poking above the glass. He smiled and said good morning. The women left rather sheepishly. So in Luke's story, old Zach heads behind the curtain carrying the incense to the altar, hoping everything goes smoothly. I imagine he was trying to be as ceremonial as he could, making sure he did the right things, the right way.

Contemporary Christians don't have the same fear of our God that many other religions have. However, we can get a clue about how most folks mentioned in the Bible felt about God by the words of Angels or messengers from God that are recorded. In almost every case when a messenger from God shows up to speak to a human, he begins with, "Don't be afraid." This story is no different. We are not told much about Zachariah's walk into the room and up to the altar. We are not told what he did when he got there. We are not told anything about how he was feeling, what procedure or steps he took to place the incense before God. Though the scripture does not tell us what he does, I think it is safe to assume that old Zach took the opportunity of being so close to God, in such a holy place, to pray on behalf of he and his wife, for the child they have always wanted, so desperately wanted, perhaps even needed.

In their culture, being married and not having children was considered to be a curse from God for a sin. Something was wrong with couples who did not have children - and usually the blame fell on the woman - she was called, "barren". She was considered a dessert wasteland where nothing could grow. She was devoid of life. Zach's wife Elizabeth felt rejected by God because if her infertility. We can assume that Zach prayed for a child because of what happens next in the story. As Zach was placing the incense on the altar an angel appeared on the right side, in the place of honor. Remember, no one else was allowed to go behind the curtain. Zach should have been alone. The shock of finding someone else there with him was bad enough. This was not just any old angel, it was Gabriel, the chief Angel, God's right hand. When Zachariah saw this holy messenger of God he was gripped with fear.

But the angel said,

"Don't be afraid! Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son and you are to name him John. He will bring joy to your life and many people will praise God because of him. He will be great in God's eyes. You will dedicate him to God. He is never to take wine or fermented drink and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even within his mother's womb. He will be a forerunner for God, turning the hearts of fathers back to their children and the disobedient to wisdom. He will prepare people for the Lord."

Zachariah was shocked. The angel's announcement must have reminded the old priest of Abraham's experience when a messenger of God appeared and told him he and his wife would have a child. Quoting Abraham at 90 years old, Zach asked the angel,

"But how will I know this is going to happen, because my wife and I are old?"

The angel replied,

"I am the angel Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God and was sent to give this news to you. But because you didn't believe me, you will not be able to speak from now until all of it has come to pass."

Although Zach knew the story well enough to quote Abraham's question, he had not personalized the story. It was not his story, but only a story in the scriptures.

Placing incense on the altar was not a complicated task. Yes, it demanded ceremony and should be done in the right way. But it didn't usually take much time. Zachariah had been behind the curtain for a long time. When he finally came out it was obvious that he could not speak. He was trying to communicate to the crowd using gestures. They all assumed he had had a vision while behind the curtain.

After his week of service in the temple was completed he went home. His wife Elizabeth soon became pregnant and stayed in seclusion for 5 months to worship God and enjoy her pregnancy. I would also suspect that like many couples today, she did not want to make the pregnancy public knowledge until he was sure it would last. Perhaps she had never had trouble getting pregnant, but could not carry a child to term. Perhaps she was prone to miscarriages or other complications.

When it was time for her to have her baby she gave birth to a son. Everyone rejoiced with the Zechariah and Elizabeth because they finally had a child in their old age, demonstrating the mercy and grace of their God.

As was traditional, when the bay was eight days old Zachariah and Elizabeth invited the rabbi to perform a Bris, a ceremony of dedication through circumcision and naming. Since Zacharia could not speak they assumed that the child would be named after his father. But before they could name him Elizabeth protested and said the child's name should be John. Everyone was shocked because there was no one else in the family named John. They looked to Zachariah for support but he asked for something to write on - he simply wrote, "His name is John." Immediately he could speak again and he began praising God. Everyone there was filled with awe. They knew the story. They knew that something happened in the temple and they knew that old Zach had not been able to speak since that experience. They knew that this old couple finally had a child. Coincidence? They didn't believe it was. They began to murmur among themselves, wondering who this child would be, because they knew that God was a part of this miraculous event.

Filled with the spirit, Zach began praising God. After months of silence, months to ponder on the miracle of God's grace and blessing in his life, Zachariah realized that he was a part of something huge. After all of the prayers, after all of the service to God, after all of the waiting, all of his study of scriptures, Zachariah knew that God had chosen him - just like he had chosen Abraham before - to father a child who would be great. After the months of contemplative silence, Zachariah spoke up and proclaimed,

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days."

And then, looking at his son John, possibly holding him aloft Lion-King-style, Zach blessed him. He said,

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

And John grew to became everything the angel Gabriel had promised: God's spirit was strong in him as he grew. After he grew up, he lived in the wilderness until it was time for him to begin preaching.

John has been called the "forerunner of Jesus." He is the one who was foretold long ago by the prophet Isaiah, to be "a voice crying in the wilderness to make a straight path for the Lord." John announced the coming of a new age, an age when God would come near. He called the people to repentance, to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. And then, after months of preaching, he was able to introduce the world to Jesus and to Baptize him.

The story is one of preparation. We have just begin a new year. Most folks make resolutions to kick off the year - though some may not admit it to anyone else, folks usually set goals of things they want to accomplish over the next year, putting the regrets and mistakes of the previous year behind them.

I want to challenge you to make some spiritual goals this year. I want to challenge you to begin to prepare yourself spiritually for what God has for you in the future. You may see those things revealed this year, but you may not. However, one thing I have learned over the years is that we grow best spiritually when we have prepared for growth. Just as a farmer prepares a field before planting crops, just as many of you have trained and prepared before running your first 5K, just as most of you prepare before exams, you will find that you get the best results when you are prepared. I grow spiritually the most after a crisis or a struggle. However, even in such moments the growth that occurs is directly proportional to the amount of spiritual exercise I have put in before the crisis or struggle.

• Do you want to grow spiritually this year?
• Do you want to be closer to God than ever before?
• Do you want to see the amazing things that God can do in and through you in the future?

Begin to prepare now. Make a plan of preparation. Put in the needed work through Bible study, in prayer, in community groups, by serving others in faith, all in order to make yourself a fertile ground into which God can plant his seeds of growth.
As Scar sang in the Lion King, it is essential to ensure our own spiritual growth that we "Be prepared!"